How a Dad Was There For His Daughter When Her Mom Couldn't Be

By Lauren Levy

When Tiana Sheehan was shopping for shaving cream, she overheard a mom in the same aisle talking to her daughter about shaving her legs as they shopped for her first razor. Although most people wouldn't think twice about this simple conversation, it pierced Tiana.

"I felt that little punch in the gut that I normally feel when I see a mom and daughter doing mom and daughter things. I can't help it," she shared with the Love What Matters Facebook page. "You'd think after 14 years without mine, seeing someone with their mom wouldn't make me sad or jealous, but it just does."

However, this time was different, because the familiar pain quickly passed and was replaced by an unexpected feeling. "I couldn't help but giggle," she wrote. "I was transported back to a similar moment I shared with my dad."

Tiana recalled the look on her dad's face when she told him that she wanted to shave her legs for the first time. It was the Summer after her mom died and some of the girls at camp had started teasing her about her hairy legs. "I remember coming up to dad and being so embarrassed to ask him for help, but man, did he handle it like a champ!" she recalled.

For a moment, he put his head down but then he simply turned the TV off, took her into the bathroom, gave her a new blade on his razor, handed her his shaving cream, and taught her how to shave her legs. "Single dads don't get the credit they deserve; especially mine and all dads who are left playing both roles," she wrote. "There was never a time in my childhood where I truly thought I was missing out on anything."

This grateful daughter realizes how amazing her father was at fulfilling both roles and working to make sure that her childhood was as normal as possible. "There was never a time I thought life or God had screwed me over," she wrote. "My dad handled everything: periods, shaving, broken hearts, catty girlfriends — you name it and my dad took it like a champ."

For all of this, Tiana has something that she wants her single parent to know:

"Dad, I know I haven't said it enough, so here's a big public THANK YOU for never, ever, ever being too much of a man to be my mom. Thank you for never being too embarrassed to do the girl stuff you had to do, thank you for never making it embarrassing for me to ask you for help. Growing up without a mom is obviously something no one ever wants, but growing up with you was the best. I love you, dad!"